The funeral rites of Believers Eastern Church Metropolitan Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan, also known as KP Yohannan, who died on Wednesday in the US, will be held at the church headquarters at Thiruvalla in Kerala.

The official decision in this regard will be taken later on Thursday. The church leadership will arrange the ceremony in consultation with the family members.

Athanasius Yohan, Metropolitan Bishop of Believers Eastern Church, passed away due to sudden cardiac arrest at a US Hospital after being injured in a car accident, the Church said in its official Facebook page on Wednesday.

“With profound grief and sorrow, we would like to inform that His Holiness Athanasius Yohan I, our honourable Metropolitan, reposed in the Lord this evening, the 8th of May 2024,’’ it read. Further details will be announced by the Synod, it added.

Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan was on Tuesday hit by a car during morning walk in Dallas, United States. The 74-year-old prelate was under intensive care at a hospital in Texas City following the accident

Born in 1950 into a Mar Thoma Church family in the upper Kuttanad village of Niranom, he joined Operation Mobilization (OM), an evangelical movement at the age of 16 and served it for eight years. He later moved to the US in 1974 for theological studies at Criswell College in Dallas, and graduated with a BA in biblical studies.

In 1979, Yohannan and his wife Gisela started Gospel for Asia, based in Texas. In 1981, he started a chapter of GFA in Kerala and in 1983 established its Indian headquarters in Tiruvalla. In 1993, he founded the Believers Eastern Church as part of the GFA World Apostolate and was consecrated as its bishop in 2003.

The synod, which ordinarily meets two to three times a year to discuss matters of governance, is expected to convene shortly. The Metropolitan is appointed from among its duly-consecrated bishops (episcopas).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of Athanasius Yohan. The Prime Minister said that Athanasius Yohan will be remembered for his services to the society and his contribution to improving the standard of living of the people.